Day of the Dead Fiesta Tickets Available Starting in October

Day of the Dead--the holiday celebrating the annual return of departed loved ones' souls--is coming, and the Peabody Museum celebrates with a Day of the Dead Fiesta on Saturday, November 2 from 6:00 to 8:30 pm. Fiesta tickets are limited, and will be on sale for $10 each starting Tuesday, October 22 at 9:00 AM online. Tickets are free for Harvard Museums of Science & Culture members, including Peabody Museum members, starting Tuesday, October 15 at 9:00 AM. An incentive to act quickly: in previous years, Fiesta tickets have been snapped up within 24 hours.

Enjoy light snacks of traditional Mexican finger foods, and listen to the music of Trio Ollin, the Berklee-trained group that brings together Mexican regional sounds with some touches of pop, bolero and jazz. (Watch an informal clip of Trio Ollin.) Also performing is Mariachi Véritas de Harvard; they return with an impressive number of musicians dressed for the occasion and with an explosive sound that fills the galleries.

Bring an image of departed loved one for placement on a special one-night-only Día de los Muertos altar and share a story about him or her with other Fiesta guests. Traditional Day of the Dead altars or ofrendas are decorated with candles, marigolds, and items that evoke the loved one. The gallery will host three altars: the special one-night-only altar for Fiesta guests, another special themed altar that will remain on view throughout the month of November and the Day of the Dead altar created by artist Mizael Sanchez, which is on view year-round.

See the calendar listing below for information on the Day of the Dead Family Event, also on Saturday, November 2. The Family Event is free with Museum admission, and includes lots of hands-on crafts and music. Enjoy free pan de muerto (Day of the Dead bread) snacks while they last!

Archaeology for All Ages on Saturday, October 5

Potters working outside on an October afternoon? The ceramic artists will be a surprising sight on Divinity Avenue, Saturday, October 5 from noon to 4:00 PM. Led by instructor Allison Newsome of Harvard's Office for the Arts Ceramics Program, they'll be shaping clay creations inspired by figurines and ancient amphorae--the vessels used for storage and travel in the ancient world--as part of the Peabody and Harvard Semitic Museum's Amazing Archaeology at Harvard.

"Ceramics program students came to the Harvard Semitic and Peabody museums to get a closer look at the vessels and figurines," said Peabody Museum Education Manager Polly Hubbard, "Then their imaginations took over." She estimates some of the pots are "nearly the size of a fifth grader."

Another oversize experience on offer is the 3-D Giza tour guided by the Harvard Semitic Museum director Peter Der Manuelian . (See September's Inside the Peabody Museum.) Stop by the Peabody Museum front desk for a tour reservation on the day of the event.

The galleries will be humming with activity, too. Global Sound Collective will provide a live soundtrack improvising on the theme of archaeology of music. Peabody Museum Director Jeffrey Quilter will be on hand to talk about his adventures in the field. Dr. Quilter's research has focused on Peru in recent years, and his team made international headlines when they discovered traces of a lost language on a 400 year-old paper, one of many exciting finds excavated from the site. Alexandre Tokovinine, a lecturer on anthropology and 3-D scanning expert, will demonstrate how to make 3-D scans of glyphs on the large Maya monuments in the gallery. Museum Curator Patricia Capone, who worked with students to create the Digging Veritas exhibition at the Peabody, will chat with visitors about what the excavations in Harvard Yard revealed about Harvard's colonial past. (Spoiler alert: colonial students did not always follow the rules.)

Both museums will host plenty of hands-on "try-it" activities for all ages, including "Throwing Bones," an ancient game from the Near East, "Ancient Writing in Clay," "Bone Detective," and archaeological illustration. For more information check the program below or call 617-496-1027 for more information.